Surrounded
by Lady Kes
Summary: Anna and Gwen discuss flowers and followers, and Mr. Bates finds a way to smooth the waters. Anna/Bates, with Anna/Gwen friendship.


Pairing: Anna/Bates friendship  
Rating: G  
A/N: How did we get from mournful Mr. Bates in a haywain to them standing next to each other at the flower show? Maybe this is how.

* * *

She was surrounded by beauty on all sides, of all shapes and colors, but she couldn't feel it. She smiled at the arrangements and at everyone she saw all the same, of course, and tried not to notice how Mr. Molesley was smiling back. She suspected he had an affection for her, but it was best not to encourage him beyond the friendship and civility she'd offer to anyone. It was especially best not to encourage him today, when all she wanted was to go back to Downton and bury her worries in work, just as she always did, just as she'd always do. She couldn't believe she'd actually told Mr. Bates how she felt. It was brazen and not at all ladylike, as he knew, even if he had tried to excuse her. And then to hear him admit that he was married just made it worse. She didn't know how she felt now, though she knew how she should feel. She should accept that he was not for her and concentrate on her work, concentrate on the life she'd had before she'd met an unlikely valet.

"Oh, that one's so pretty," Gwen said, effectively pulling Anna out of her own head and pointing to a bunch of wildflowers that seemed too simple amongst all the roses and fancy arrangements. "That's the kind of flowers I'd want a man to give me. Wouldn't you, Anna?"

"I don't think it's likely that anyone will be bringing either of us any flowers," Anna replied, but not cruelly. Gwen was her roommate and her closest friend in the staff, not to mention one of the best maids Downton had. She didn't want to alter that by being unpleasant just because she'd had an unpleasant conversation.

"Right, we're to 'have no followers'," Gwen repeated, imitating Mrs. Hughes' repressive tones nearly perfectly, and in spite of her mood, Anna smiled.

"Exactly. Nothing to distract us from our work. Of course, once you're a secretary, you may have as many followers as you like," she teased gently.

"If I'm a secretary," Gwen replied, and Anna smiled sympathetically. The first interview hadn't gone well, but Anna was nearly as convinced as Lady Sybil that it would be a success eventually. After Gwen had realized Anna supported her, she'd started practicing her typing in their room. She was really very good, and the clacking of the keys was almost soothing once Anna'd got used to the sound.

"You will be," she assured her friend, and Gwen smiled.

"And you'll have followers," she replied, and gave Anna a sly look. "I saw your dried flowers. I don't think those appeared on their own."

Anna blushed - and hated it. She should have got rid of them, but she couldn't make herself do it. Not even now, with the conversation she'd just had, could she make herself do that. It had been the first time a man had brought her flowers, and that was something to remember.

"Perhaps not," she replied. "But never you mind. It won't be happening again."

That, she was nearly sure of, and the surety made her heart squeeze in her chest. She glanced up to see Mr. Bates in the aisle on the other side of the arrangement. He was facing away from them, but she could tell by his posture that he was listening, and she saw his shoulders sag just slightly. If she hadn't spent years talking to him at meals, chatting in the yard, watching him with the other staff, she wouldn't have noticed it. But she had spent all that time with him, and so now she noticed things about him.

Perhaps he was as displeased by their conversation as she was. He'd said earlier that he cared, though not in so many words. She understood now why he hadn't said anything more plainly. He couldn't, and that was honorable of him. It hurt, but it was honorable.

"Well, then, we'll just have to enjoy them now and pretend they've been sent to us," Gwen decided, and abruptly called to Mr. Bates. "Mr. Bates! Which of these are your favorites?"

Mr. Bates turned with a smile that very nearly reached his eyes, and made a show of examining all the flowers in the row before pointing to the wildflower arrangement in front of them.

"That one, I think," he decided.

"And why's that?" Gwen asked pertly, giving Anna a sideways look. As changes of subject went, this wasn't her favorite, but she appreciated it all the same.

"I'd be afraid to touch all the rest of them," Mr. Bates replied. "This one's simple. It doesn't have to shout out that it's beautiful. It just is."

He was looking at Anna steadily as he said it, and she realized that his answer was in the way of an apology. He'd just called her beautiful, too, and she struggled not to smile. They still had quite a few things to discuss, not the least of which was his wife, but maybe this wasn't the end of their friendship after all.

"That was very nicely stated, Mr. Bates," Anna replied, and this time, the smile did reach his eyes, which crinkled. His apology had been accepted, and Gwen looked between the two of them curiously. She probably would have said something, but they were all called to attention by the Dowager Countess at that moment, and the three of them moved to stand with the rest of the staff. Mr. Bates stood just next to her, and she glanced up at him. It wasn't all resolved, but somehow she did feel the beauty around her now.


End file.
